New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft is vehemently defending his decision not to pay embattled former tight end Aaron Hernandez the $82,000 he now owes him in bonus money.
"It's simple," Kraft told USA Today Sports on Tuesday. "You can look at our history. We honor all our contracts, and we expect the people who sign them to honor their part of the contract."
Hernandez, 23, faces first-degree murder charges and remains jailed without bail and relegated to solitary confinement in the June killing of 27-year-old semi-pro football player Odin Lloyd.
The NFLPA has now entered the fray, seeking to collect the money the Patriots are withholding from Hernandez based on the fact he had participated in at least 90 percent of the team’s voluntary offseason workouts before charged and arrested, as stipulated by the terms of the five-year, $40 million deal he signed in 2012.
"On behalf of all players, it is our responsibility to protect the rights in the collective bargaining agreement," the union said in a statement. "We are not tone-deaf to what the allegations are in this case, but for the benefit of all players, there are important precedents here we must protect."
Within hours of him having been taken into custody, the Patriots severed all ties with Hernandez, who has pled not guilty to all charges.
Prosecutors maintain Hernandez orchestrated Lloyd's killing because he was upset at him for talking to people Hernandez had problems with at nightclub days earlier.
